ANALYSIS: Stempniak, a 31-year-old rental, played on the power play and killed penalties for the Flames. He has produced only eight goals and 21 points this season. You’d think he would slot into the bottom six, one of the Penguins’ weaknesses, but he is a right winger. The Penguins need someone to play with Sidney Crosby because of Pascal Dupuis’ knee injury.

ANALYSIS: Halak beat the Capitals in the 2010 playoffs with the Montreal Canadiens, sparking a crisis in D.C. that led to a change in philosophy and a coaching switch. Now he’s joining the Capitals as a rental, and that could create more controversy. Who will start now? Halak? Or Braden Holtby? They have similar numbers. But it’s a nice problem to have. Halak is surely an upgrade over Neuvirth, who is also a pending unrestricted free agent, and the third-round pick is a bonus. Klesla is a veteran rental the Caps picked up in the Martin Erat trade earlier. The Sabres get a look at Neuvirth and Klesla and perhaps a head start on re-signing them.

ANALYSIS: Wings fans wanted a centerman who grew up in the Detroit area. They were thinking Ryan Kesler, but the price was much higher for him and the Wings didn’t want to pay it. Legwand, the original Predator, is a 33-year-old rental. He didn’t exactly come cheap considering that. But he can still play a strong defensive game, and the Wings need short-term help in the middle with Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, Darren Helm and Stephen Weiss all battling injuries. Legwand will be their No. 1 center for a while. Eaves wanted more ice time in the last year of his contract. Jarnkrok reportedly wants to go back to Sweden.

ANALYSIS: The Avs seemed set in goal with Semyon Varmalov and Jean-Sebastien Giguere. But Giguere’s contract is up after this season. So is Berra’s, but this might give the Avs a chance to sign him to an extension. Berra, a 27-year-old from Switzerland, has an .897 save percentage this season, but the Flames have struggled and the Avs see potential.

ANALYSIS: The Wild acquired a couple of solid rentals for a guy who wanted a trade and picks. Moulson adds scoring. McCormick adds grit. Both should help the Wild down the stretch and in the playoffs. Mitchell wanted more of an opportunity elsewhere, and there is plenty in Buffalo as the Sabres rebuild.

ANALYSIS: Great move for the Habs, awful one for the Isles. The Canadiens rank 22nd in even-strength scoring and added a sniper who has scored 15 of his 21 goals at even strength. The Islanders traded Matt Moulson and two high picks – a first-rounder this year and a second-rounder next year – to the Buffalo Sabres in October. Moulson and Vanek are pending unrestricted free agents. Now Moulson and Vanek are both gone along with that first-round pick. The Isles got a second-rounder back (assuming Montreal makes the playoffs) and Collberg, a 20-year-old prospect who was drafted in the second round in 2012 and has yet to play in the NHL. Not good.

ANALYSIS: The Bruins needed depth on defense because of injuries. The Flyers had a surplus on defense after acquiring Andrew MacDonald. So off goes Meszaros, a 28-year-old rental. He has been a teammate of Zdeno Chara’s on the Slovakian national team.

ANALYSIS: The Panthers acquired Roberto Luongo, so it made sense to part immediately with Tim Thomas, avoiding an awkward partnership between the goaltenders who dueled in the 2011 Stanley Cup final for the Vancouver Canucks and Boston Bruins. For the Stars, Thomas is a rental and an upgrade over Ellis, who is signed for one more season at $1 million. Thomas can push Kari Lehtonen and play in the event of injury.

ANALYSIS: The Jackets needed depth on defense for their playoff push because of injuries. That’s about all Schultz provides. He’s a stay-at-home, third-pair guy in decline at 31 years old, but he’s a rental in the final year of a contract paying him $3.6 million. The Oilers had to get whatever they could for him.

ANALYSIS: This is a salary dump by the Hurricanes. Ruutu, a 31-year-old with five goals and 16 points this season, is signed for two more seasons at a cap hit of $4.75 million with an actual salary of $5 million. Loktionov, a 23-year-old with four goals and 12 points this season, is on a one-year contract paying him $725,000. He will be a restricted free agent.

ANALYSIS: The Penguins needed to bolster their bottom six, and they did that with Goc, a pending unrestricted free agent making $1.7 million this season. Goc is a versatile, three-zone player. He can win faceoffs, kill penalties, chip in some offense. The Panthers got a decent return – the exact same price the Oilers got for top-six rental winger Ales Hemsky.

ANALYSIS: The Kings won the Stanley Cup in 2012 and are contenders again – a great possession team with top-notch goaltending. But they struggle to score, ranking 27th in the NHL at 2.32 goals per game. GM Dean Lombardi had lots of options on the rental market. Gaborik must have come cheaper than Thomas Vanek, Matt Moulson or Mike Cammalleri. At his best, Gaborik has speed and a great shot. At his worst, he’s invisible. He was the Blue Jackets’ big deadline acquisition last year, and he scored three goals in 12 games down the stretch – and nine goals in 34 games through this season. The Jackets are eating some of his salary.

ANALYSIS: Dubnyk went from Edmonton to Nashville when Pekka Rinna was injured. Now he goes to Montreal while Carey Price is injured. The Oilers already ate some of his salary, and now the Predators are eating some, too. This is just cheap insurance for the Habs.

ANALYSIS: If only the Senators had made this deal a day earlier, before Hemsky scored two goals against them in a 3-2 Oilers win. The Sens have to leapfrog four teams to earn a wild-card berth, but they’re only four points back. They’re buying, but Hemsky was a relatively cheap rental, especially considering the Oilers will pick up half of his remaining salary this season. He has skill but hasn’t produced all that much over the past few years. The Oilers have finally moved on after years of Hemsky rumors and speculation.

ANALYSIS: In the short term, this is great for the Rangers and bad for the Lightning. In the long term? The other way around. Callahan was the Rangers’ captain, a gritty leader. But his role had been reduced under new coach Alain Vigneault, and he wouldn’t reduce his contract demands enough with his deal about to expire. The Rangers avoided overpaying and replaced him with St-Louis, last season’s scoring champion, who has another season on his deal and reunites with former Tampa Bay teammate Brad Richards. St-Louis was the Bolts’ captain, the right-hand man for star Steven Stamkos. But he’s 38 and wanted to be traded only to the Rangers – partly because Tampa GM Steve Yzerman initially left him off the roster for the Sochi Olympics. Considering the circumstances, Yzerman got a heck of a return. TSN reported that if the Rangers make the conference final, the 2014 second-rounder becomes a first-rounder. If Callahan signs with Tampa Bay, the Rangers get a second-rounder and the Lightning a seventh-rounder in 2015.

ANALYSIS: The Canucks finally traded Luongo – but too late and for too little. They had Luongo and Cory Schneider less than a year ago, and now they have neither. What did they get in return? A ninth overall pick for Schneider, which turned into forward prospect Bo Horvat, and Markstrom and Matthias for Luongo (and Anthony). The Canucks’ goalies are now Markstrom and Eddie Lack, who have played 68 regular-season and zero playoff games combined in the NHL. What’s more, the Canucks are eating a chunk of Luongo’s contract each of the next four years, and if he retires early, they will still be penalized under the new NHL rules – absorbing as much as an $8.5 million cap hit if he retires in 2021.

ANALYSIS: Erat wanted out of Nashville and went to Washington. Then he wanted out of Washington and went to Phoenix. Maybe now he will find happiness. If so, maybe he can score like a 20-goal guy again and give the Coyotes a boost on the wing. He’s signed through next season at a cap hit of $4.5 million. Klesla, 31, is a veteran defenseman who once was drafted fourth overall by Columbus, but he’s a rental. The real return for the Capitals could be Brown, a second-round pick in 2009 who has played in only 11 NHL games.

ANALYSIS: Rundblad has bounced around for a defenseman with so much talent he was drafted 17th overall by the St. Louis Blues in 2009. He has gone to Ottawa to Phoenix and now to Chicago. But he’s only 23, and if he blossoms with the Blackhawks, the rich will just get richer. The ’Hawks have mentors and a style that suits his skill set. He is signed for next season at a hit of only $785,000.

ANALYSIS: The Flyers need to improve on defense, and MacDonald is 27, a veteran of 295 NHL games and a former partner of Mark Streit’s. But he is also one of the worst possession defensemen in the NHL, and he is a rental, in the final year of a four-year deal. This was a stiff price to pay for that, especially when you consider Stephane Robidas went for a fourth-round pick. Robidas is 37 and recovering from a broken leg, but he is a much better player if healthy and is expected to be ready for the playoffs.

ANALYSIS: The Oilers already acquired Ben Scrivens and signed him to a two-year extension worth $2.3 million per. Now they add Fasth, who has another year left at a $2.9 million hit. Both have a lot to prove but a lot of potential, and the Oilers can let them compete and see what happens. Fasth, 31, has played all of 30 NHL games and has battled injuries. But he put up a .921 save percentage in 25 games last season.

ANALYSIS: Say what you want about Penner – his love of pancakes, his lack of conditioning, his spotty production. He looked great for a while this season with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, and he has come up big in the playoffs. He won the Cup with Anaheim in 2007 and again with the Los Angeles Kings in 2012, chipping in three goals on each run. He gives the Capitals a big body who can score in front. Does this clear a spot so the Ducks can do something else?

ANALYSIS: Robidas has not played since Nov. 29 because of a broken leg. But he is expected to return in time for the playoffs, and he’s a rental, in the final season of a four-year contract with a $3.3 million cap hit. He adds a veteran presence to the Ducks’ young defense. The 37-year-old has played 871 regular-season games and 44 playoff games in the NHL. Note: The Ducks and Stars could face each other in the first round.

ANALYSIS: The Wild needed goaltending help with Josh Harding suffering from multiple sclerosis, Niklas Backstrom often injured and rookie Darcy Kuemper holding the No. 1 spot. Kuemper has played well of late and can be a No. 1, but what if he goes down? The Wild had a lot of rental options, including Jaroslav Halak and Martin Brodeur, and went with a cheap and easy one. If all goes well, they won’t need Bryzgalov. The Oilers get a pick for a guy who was going to leave as a free agent, anyway.

ANALYSIS: Weaver is a cheap rental who can kill penalties and adds depth on defense. The 35-year-old has played 585 regular season games in the NHL, though only 11 in the playoffs. He’s in the second year of a two-year contract with a cap hit of $1.1 million.

ANALYSIS: Pirri won the AHL scoring title last season with 75 points in 76 games. But he had trouble cracking the Blackhawks’ stacked lineup – he had 13 points in 35 games with Chicago this season – and needs to work on his two-way game. He will have a better opportunity in Florida.

ANALYSIS: The Blues made a bold move in an effort to win their first Stanley Cup. Miller isn’t a huge upgrade over Halak, but he’s an upgrade. Ott adds sandpaper to a team that is already hard to play against. The Blues lost to the Kings in the playoffs last year when Jonathan Quick outdueled Brian Elliott in goal, and the Blues aren’t going to beat the Chicago Blackhawks – if they meet in the second round in the new divisional playoff format – by matching their skill. The Blues are built to win tight, tough games. The Sabres add assets for the future and could add more by flipping Halak, a pending unrestricted free agent.